Learning to Lead: Refugee Girls in Kiryandongo Turn Human-Rights Lessons into Local Action

A fresh chance for young leaders

A new programme in Kiryandongo District, Uganda, is teaching refugee girls more than lessons from a textbook. Funded by Education Cannot Wait, the initiative brings human-rights education, advocacy skills and leadership training into classrooms and community spaces for refugee adolescents. The goal is simple: give girls the knowledge and tools to protect themselves, speak up for their peers and take part in decisions that affect their lives.

Organisers say the programme targets adolescent girls living in refugee settlements and host communities, with activities that stretch beyond formal school hours. By blending lessons about rights with practical training — like public speaking and community mapping — organisers hope girls will not only feel safer, but also act as advocates for change in their own neighbourhoods.

Program design: practical learning, local partners and measurable aims

The initiative combines classroom work, peer-led groups and community outreach. Local non-profits and education actors worked with funders to design a short, skills-focused curriculum. Sessions cover basic human-rights concepts, child protection, gender equality, how to report abuse, civic participation, and simple advocacy techniques such as storytelling, safe reporting and community dialogue.

Delivery is mixed: trained teachers lead core lessons during school hours, while youth facilitators and refugee peer mentors run after-school clubs and community sessions. The programme also integrates basic psychosocial support, so girls who carry trauma can get help while they learn.

Organisers report the programme reached several hundred girls in its first phase, with plans to expand. Measurable goals include increased attendance and school retention among participating girls, higher awareness of protection services, and a rise in the number of girls taking on peer-leader roles. Simple monitoring tools — attendance logs, pre- and post-surveys on rights knowledge, and community feedback meetings — track progress and inform adjustments.

Funding covers training for teachers and mentors, learning materials that use simple language and pictures, community outreach costs, and small stipends for peer facilitators. Local partners handle day-to-day delivery, while the donor coordinates evaluation and reporting.

Voices from Kiryandongo: confidence, barriers and small wins

On the ground, the change looks modest but meaningful. Girls describe feeling more confident to speak in class and to ask for help when they face difficulties at home or in the settlement. One participant said she used what she learned to help a friend report harassment, and another explained how role-playing sessions made her less afraid to speak at community meetings.

Teachers and mentors note shifts in classroom dynamics. Where girls had stayed quiet, more now volunteer answers and organise study groups. Local organisers point to small but clear outcomes: a handful of girls have taken on leadership roles in school clubs, and community dialogue sessions have opened lines of communication between families, teachers and protection actors.

Challenges remain. Transport, household chores, and economic pressure still pull some girls out of learning opportunities. Stigma around sexual and gender-based violence makes reporting difficult, and local protection services are often stretched thin. Programme staff say combining education with livelihood support and stronger referral pathways would help sustain gains.

Why Kiryandongo matters: Uganda’s approach and the protection landscape

Uganda is known for a relatively open refugee policy that allows refugees to live in settlements and access services, including education. Kiryandongo District hosts refugees from neighbouring countries, and schools there serve mixed classrooms of refugee and host-community children. That mix means programmes that build community trust and shared understanding of rights can have a broader effect.

Still, Uganda’s system faces limits. Rising numbers of displaced people strain schools and protection services, and local budgets are tight. In that context, short, targeted programmes that strengthen teachers, mobilise peer networks and improve referral systems can plug critical gaps — if they coordinate with existing services and plan for scale and sustainability.

Scaling what works: practical next steps for donors, NGOs and local leaders

To grow impact, stakeholders should focus on a few practical moves. First, invest in durable training for teachers and peer mentors so knowledge remains in the community after project funding ends. Second, link human-rights education to concrete support — transport assistance, cash-for-school or livelihood options — that reduce dropout pressures. Third, strengthen local referral systems so girls who disclose abuse can reach timely protection services.

Donors and NGOs must also build simple, routine monitoring that captures both learning and protection outcomes, and fund local partners to lead expansion. When refugee girls gain the skills to speak up and organise, the whole community benefits. The programme in Kiryandongo shows how targeted education can turn learning into action — but scaling that promise will require sustained funding, local leadership and attention to practical barriers that still keep many girls from school.

Sources

• prnewswire.com